As a student, or someone looking for a part-time job, you might have thought of some of the more “traditional” roles available. What many people forget, is that we’re living in a world where technology and science are improving in leaps and bounds, making the job landscape look very different to how it looked just a few years ago.

It’s crazy to think that many of the jobs that people are working in or studying towards today, won’t be in existence in the next few years. As our world is advancing at an ever-quickening pace, the nature of work is changing; and those changing with it, to paraphrase Darwin, are the ones that will prosper.

Take traditional jobs. Not too long ago, the world needed lamplighters (to light and refuel street lamps), ice cutters (before refrigerators, blocks of ice had to be cut up and sawed), switchboard operators…the list goes on. Surely a generation or two ago, people would never have dreamed of professions like developers, drone pilots, and many others we take for granted.

So here’s a modern twist on some great jobs to earn some great money in your spare time.

1. Man’s Best Friend

It sounds obvious, but walking a four-legged friend is just about one of the best things you can do for almost every reason in the book. First of all, it keeps you active and ensures you enjoy more than a PlayStation and the inside of a dorm room. Second, bonding with a dog is extremely rewarding; the way a dog reciprocates love and affection is heartwarming for anyone, not only the most diehard canine lovers. It also happens to be a fantastic way to meet new friends, and even romantic interests. Finally, dog walking doesn’t pay badly at all, compared to some other jobs out there. Payscale.com shows a median salary of $13.27 per hour, with some areas paying upwards of $20 per hour. Multiply this by a few dogs that can be walked at a time, and it becomes an attractive proposition. Definitely worth checking out!

Here’s the kicker. Don’t run your dog walking business like people did in the past. Dog walkers of the 21st century are getting smart, and that means using platforms like the awesome PetCheck, which provides dog walking management software including “fail-safe scheduling, verified staff visits through our patented barcode scanning technology with real-time pet owner alerts, GPS tracking, invoicing, credit card processing, and business reports”. This means a smoother experience for everyone involved, and more pure bonding time with pooch!

2. Find the Remote

We don’t mean the TV remote. We’re talking about working remotely, which has become a massive industry these past few years. Sites like Upwork and Freelancer have let people leverage their skills to provide services to anyone, anywhere in the world, from the comfort of…well, anywhere.

Gone are the days when your work was tied to your office, factory, or wherever else you “had” to be. Today, most jobs can be done from anywhere. Certainly, if surgeons can do delicate operations from thousands of miles away, nothing should stand in the way of fulfilling your passion and adding value from wherever is convenient for you.

Not a killer graphic designer or an eloquent copywriter? Don’t sweat! Check out Fiverr, where any talent you have can be monetized. There are people offering voice overs, people who will write names in the sand, or even design you and your best friend out of clay. Hey, we don’t judge.

If remote working isn’t for you and you want to keep it local, try companies like TaskRabbit for people looking for someone exactly like you.

3. Be your own boss

You like doing things your way. Your time, your convenience and your independence are of paramount importance to you. You’re responsible, dependent and reliable.

In the past, this would probably have meant delivering the morning paper, or perhaps reluctantly calling up your local pizza joint to get on their roster as a delivery person. Once again, the world has changed, opening up a whole world of options that allow you to use your skills and resources available to you to create value for yourself and for others.

In this case, for example, you should be a SoPick Courier.

For those that don’t know SoPick, where have you been? But seriously, if you still need an introduction, SoPick is a technology-driven, people-centered social deliver service. What this means is that anyone can be a SoPick Courier. You might see that someone has requested a pick up near your home, and a drop-off right around the corner from your pickup basketball game. You’re taking the subway through anyway, so you can pick up the package, drop it at its destination, make some money and best of all, have the satisfaction of having helped someone else.

No late-night pizza deliveries, or early morning paper runs. Just convenience, independence, and the feeling of being at the cutting edge of the tech revolution.

4. Write about it

Here’s a great idea: go travelling, and get paid for it! That’s right, you could go on an epic trip, take lots of pics and he the time of your life, all the while getting paid for your efforts. There are plenty of travel blogs and bloggers out there, so find someone you connect to and start gathering some tips.

Opening a blog is super easy (WordPress or Medium are great places to start) and you can start contacting hotels and attractions overseas and promising a great write-up in exchange for a free stay. Our advice though is to be honest and up-front, and explain that while you’re sure your stay will exceed expectations, you are committed to proving honest content to your readers.

Again, travelling and writing has moved on since Lewis and Clark. There are some awesome tools and gadgets – indeed, a whole new way of doing things – that will completely transform your experience. Whether it’s the HumanCharger which uses drug-free, blue-enriched white light therapy to beat jetlag, Tile, which harnesses Bluetooth to make sure you never lose anything again, and doing all of this while learning the local language with DuoLingo.

While you’re traveling, take a package and make even more. Companies like Grabr will pay you to take small packages overseas for their clients. You can even sell your beautiful holiday snaps to companies like Shutterstock to make it even more worthwhile.

5. Lemonade Stand 2.0

Opening up a store is a great idea. Until you realize you have to buy inventory, stand for hours on end, speak to each customer individually, convincing them why you’re the best…

Yes, a store is a great idea. But why not open a virtual one?

You could sell stuff through platforms like eBay and Etsy, or you could set up your own store. This is also really easy to do and can be accomplished with a few clicks.

Another approach which has worked really well for people is drop shipping. In a nutshell, you buy from marketplaces like AliExpress and sell through someone like Amazon at a significant mark-up. Even better, you don’t have to pre-purchase or hold any inventory. You only need to order the product once someone has actually ordered it from you, and the manufacturer or wholesaler (in this case AliExpress) can ship directly to the customer. Experiment with landing pages, Facebook ads and Google adwords to boost business.

The world is moving online, and in order to get great opportunities, you should move with it too!

Expand your horizons

These are just some of the ways that tech is making “traditional” jobs easier, simpler, and more lucrative; not to mention creating whole new sub-industries and ways to explore your passions.

There truly is something for everyone, and best of all these options are expanding all the time, as our world keeps developing.

So get up and get going, do some research and check out your options, go out and make a difference; and best of all, you’ll be able to look back at everything you’ve accomplished with pride.